Fire and Rain
by blambrittana
Summary: The thing, or rather person that Brittany would never neglect to mention, however, was Quinn. Quinn Fabray, Brittany's best friend since there were thirteen, and her guiding light through absolutely everything. ... One thing was for sure, though, this Lopez chick better not get in her way.


**_A/N: Recently, I've been more and more disappointed over how overlooked the potential Quitt friendship is with the writers, so I decided to expand on it myself. There's gold there IMO. Quitt friendship, Brittana is always endgame to me. I don't own these characters. Will be an ongoing fic, enjoy. _**

If you were to sit down and ask Brittany. S. Pierce about herself, she would reply by listing a number of things as those aspects of her life and herself that most defined her. She would begin by talking about how important her friends and family were to her, how imperative they were to her life and how everything was wound up in the precious time that she got to spend with them. She would talk about dancing; how she had danced since the moment she could walk and how it fuelled everything within her – her passion for life, for beauty, for performance. She would throw in a comment about where it was she was studying – Julliard – and how much she enjoyed it, only because it meant she could dance everyday and it felt like it was for a real purpose, not just her dancing in her room where no one was watching. And maybe she would talk about her cat, appropriately named "Lord Tubbington" because he was very much so on the heavy side. The thing, or rather person that Brittany would never neglect to mention, however, was Quinn. Quinn Fabray, Brittany's best friend since there were thirteen, and her guiding light through absolutely everything.

In what could be very accurately described as a little more than a shoebox apartment lived two blondes who had not spend more than a moment apart since the moment they both sat together in AP math in middle school. Brittany was promptly moved from the class, however, when it was realised that she was actually supposed to be placed in a lower level class, even though she had managed to answer a question about finding the area of an irregular shape when the teacher had called on her. Quinn had the utmost faith that Brittany was placed in the correct class however, and even went as far as to come up against Mrs. Dobson who had refuted Brittany's intelligence, making such comments as "oh... I think you're in the wrong class, sweetheart", with a condescending tone. Most everyone in the room was taken aback by Quinn's standing up for Brittany, because Quinn Fabray didn't stand up for anyone, especially not a teacher whom she was so desperate to impress, just for the sake of a girl she barely knew who clearly lacked the intellectual ability to be in an advanced class. This was a girl who wore her sweaters on inside and out, and not for a fashion statement, but because she didn't know that sweaters went on a certain way. Quinn Fabray had a reputation to protect, since even at the ripe age of thirteen she was destined to be fast tracked on her way to becoming head cheerleader for the Cheerios at William McKinley High School. It was one of those things that were somehow written in the stars, as though God himself had called upon the blondest and prettiest in the room to sacrifice for the sake of performing Coach Sue Sylvester's wildly elaborate routines. Quinn knew otherwise, though. Over the years she had been fed a number of lines about her supposed genetic perfection – well, they were a little more subtle than that. Her parents had met at Brown University, her mother and father being beautiful and handsome, respectively, and notably popular within Lima's social circles. By the time Quinn was eleven she had realised that their relocating after marriage after she was born was for one particular reason – they were very much so aware that in a Hicksville town like Lima, they could both easily rise to be the cream of the crop, the most cultured of the bunch. Quinn considered this less than admirable, and from then on made it her mission to rise far above her parent's mediocrity. She was going to marry the perfect man, probably an executive in charge of a giant company, or a Supreme Court judge, and have an equally successful and admirable career, in – well, she didn't know what yet, but it would all start with joining the Cheerios. All of these superficial preoccupations, however, seem to have changed in their intensity the moment that Brittany walked into her life.

Despite her firm belief that Brittany was actually extremely intelligent, and not to be downcast as the stupid blonde as everyone had made her out to be, Quinn was in the clear understanding that just about everything, despite maybe dancing and her ability to make out with as many boys as she could, was harder for Brittany than it was for most people. She didn't seem to understand social cues, and she struggled to remember her class schedule, _ever, _even on the last day of the year when she had endured the same routine day in and day out all year. Nope. Brittany didn't get it. Although, her naivety was never annoying to Quinn, and nor can it be put so simply as being just endearing to her. It was much more than that. Brittany was able to see beyond all of the restrictions that society had seemed to place upon her. She did not, and could not understand the meaning of prejudice, nor of hate, nor of the clear classist ideals which Quinn's own parents held. To Brittany, sexuality was not so easily defined as one of three – homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual – in fact to her it was impossible to be defined. Brittany just existed as she was, not seeing why she needed to choose a way to name herself when she just was a certain way. So much so that when Brittany held a homecoming party in sophomore year, she didn't hesitate to go ahead and kiss one of her girlfriends even though her parents were in close proximity to the events. Her lack of social understanding got her into a whole lot of trouble, most of which was conflict which she was unable to understand, with her parents and teachers alike. Brittany was pure. And on top of that, she was a good friend to Quinn, possibly the best. The only one who was able to see through her bullshit, her mind games, the distance she seemed to give everybody else. Brittany was the only one Quinn never pushed away, no matter how badly she wanted to run and hide, no matter when she got pregnant and wanted to disappear from everyone and everything. It was Brittany who got her the pregnancy test, who sat on the bathroom floor holding Quinn as she sobbed out what felt a million tears all at once. Sometimes, Brittany beared the brunt of Quinn's hostility, her nasty words and her malice, but Brittany never gave up on Quinn. Brittany knew that Quinn never would never push her too far away, especially when she had told her the most important words she had heard from a friend after Quinn endured the disastrous phase of dying her perfect blonde her pink and naming herself a "skank." When she finally got her hair dyed back close enough to her natural light sheen, she turned to Brittany and said: "I love you. Not because I know you'll never leave, but because you are you." It was words like that which granted Brittany the courage never to accept herself as nothing short of amazing every time some idiot kid called her a fool, or stupid, or worthless or nothing better than an easy cheerleader.

Quinn was the reason Brittany had gotten into school at Julliard and why she stayed no matter every obstacle she had endured. Despite any blurred lines surrounding Brittany's sexuality, however, both were aware that they both lived in a state of a merely platonic attraction. They were the best of girlfriends (girlfriends referring to a friend who is a girl) and knew the ins and outs of each other in a way that only best friends can. Their intense knowing of each other dissipated any ounce of romance to exist between them, and besides – Quinn still lived by the three main titles of sexuality and named herself completely hetero. Quinn and Brittany were very aware of each other in the sense that they had seen both the ugliest moments of one another and yet also the most triumphant, and did not think any less of one another because of the knowledge that they shared. But nor did they think any more of each other, beyond the realms of what was two roommates and the best of friends.

On a Sunday morning in mid – January, both blondes found themselves sitting in their two bedroom apartment against the very real backdrop of New York City snow, sharing a make shift breakfast of Brittany's deformed looking pancakes. Though the two girls had been co – existing in a state of comfortable silence – of which was not unusual for the two – Quinn suddenly remembered an important detail and spoke up with her soft, and yet still raspy, voice.

"Britt... did you remember to give the landlord the rent payment?"

By the time Quinn had spoke the first four words, Brittany's mind had registered the direction to which the conversation was heading – yet another one of her shortcomings as a supposed adult – and her face dropped. She had forgotten. Quinn noticed when the answer was going to be no, because she was witnessed this similar state of panic in Brittany's eyes before. Brittany's words came out rushed and in a way that she did not anticipate them to at all.

"Uhhhhhhh, nobutIwasjustaboutto –"

"BRITTANY! You can't just forget this stuff!" Quinn knew that it wasn't really her fault, that Britt had really been trying to work on her remembering to do things, but as it often did, frustration got the better of her.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'll go chase him up now!" Despite any failures to remember, Brittany was definitely a charmer. She had a way with words, something that Quinn did not. Sure, Quinn could bat a few eyelashes if she really needed to, but that was only with boys her age in the hope that they would buy her a few drinks. Her landlord was another story, a fifty or so year old man who had taken a particular liking for Brittany – not in a creepy way, but as though she was like the daughter he never had. Brittany had that way with people, of digging up within them the most redeemable parts of themselves and making them present. It would be too simple to say that she merely pulled at their heartstrings, for it was nothing so cliché. It was more as though she was able to relate to others on a personal level, beyond all the small talk of everyday life and all of the superficial bullshit that Quinn had seen her parents become so obsessed with. Brittany was like a daughter or a friend to everyone that she met. But she was Quinn's sister, and no one else's.

"Okay. Fine. But just don't do it again..." Quinn started one of the many lectures she had never really finished giving Brittany in the past. At some point, Brittany made Quinn's mouth creep up into a smile just as she was getting too frustrated. It happened every time.

Today was no different. "Yeah, I know, I get it. I've seen people getting evicted on Maury Povich. It won't happen with us, Quinny, promise. Especially not because of me."

Maury Povich was a dramatic example for Brittany to use, but Quinn got the point.

"SOOOO, speaking of Maury, how's school?" Brittany tried to break the ice, and although Quinn could decipher absolutely no relation between the two subjects, she nodded along anyway.

"It's okay. I got an assignment for my music production class... to create a song. Except that I got paired with this absolute bitch of a girl. Can't remember her name... something Spanish." Quinn knew that it would infuriate Brittany that she had called someone a bitch – even though this girl may be just that, but she went ahead and said it anyway.

"What have I said about calling people bitches? Everyone has a story... like Ursula in the Little Mermaid. You think she just wants to destroy Ariel's life for fun? No. She's clearly like, super bitter because something happened in her life that she regrets. Yeah, you just think of that one. It'll blow your mind. Anyway, are you excited for the assignment? It sounds cool." Quinn was used to these life lessons that always somehow related back to a Disney character. In fact, she looked forward to all of the different ways that Brittany could integrate these character's stories into their lives.

Quinn took a long, deep sigh. "Yeah, I guess. I just hope she doesn't get in my way."

"She won't. Plus, a Spanish girl... damn..." Brittany drawled out the last word and then gave her best friend a wink.

Quinn let out a weak laugh, able to mask her tendency to be jealously of just how comfortable Brittany was with herself. One thing was for sure, though, this Lopez chick better not get in her way.


End file.
